State v. Langford, Unpublished Decision (8-6-2003)
State v. Langford, Unpublished Decision (8-6-2003)
Opinion of the Court
The Supreme Court of Ohio, in State v. Smith,
"Moreover, to justify reopening his appeal, Smith `bears the burden ofestablishing that there was a "genuine issue" as to whether he has a "colorable claim" of ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal.' Statev. Spivey,
"Strickland charges us to `appl[y] a heavy measure of deference to counsel's judgments,'
Herein, Langford argues that appellate counsel was ineffective upon appeal as a result of failing to argue that trial counsel was deficient vis-a-vis the refusal to request a jury instruction with regard to the lesser included offenses of voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. The Supreme Court of Ohio, in State v. Griffie (1996),
During the course of trial, Langford's trial strategy involved a complete denial of any criminal activity, which resulted in the death of the victim. Langford's trial strategy prevented any request for a jury instruction with regard to the offenses of voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. State v. Reider, supra. Thus, appellate counsel was not required to raise as error on appeal the alleged failure of trial counsel to request an instruction with regard to the offenses of voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. It must also be noted that the issues of ineffective assistance of trial counsel and defective jury instructions were raised and found to be without merit through Langford's original appeal. Further review of these issues is barred through the application of the doctrine of res judicata. State v. Murnahan (1992),
Accordingly, we decline to reopen Langford's application for reopening.
Application denied.
MICHAEL J. CORRIGAN, P.J., and FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., J., CONCUR.
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